Is Albania Safe for Solo Female Travelers?
Is Albania safe for solo female travelers? Read on for everything you need to know about safely traveling in Albania! Albania is a country in the Balkan region of Europe that many people don’t know much about.
Compared to some of the popular neighboring countries like Greece and Croatia and even the burgeoning tourist destination of Montenegro, Albania still receives relatively little tourism.
It’s a highly underrated destination with beautiful beaches and picturesque towns, interesting history, a fascinating capital city, and extremely affordable prices. Many people don’t know much about Albania, but some people do have a negative impression of the country which might lead them to question its safety.
Overall, Albania is a very safe destination. As a solo female traveler there, I never had any safety concerns, although I did find it to be a somewhat challenging and perplexing place to visit, which I’ll talk about more below. But when it comes to actual safety, you have nothing to worry about in Albania.
Here’s everything you need to know about safely visiting Albania as a solo female traveler.
Is Albania Safe to Visit?
As mentioned, Albania is a quite safe country to visit.
While it is still considered to be a developing country in Europe, the country is stable and secure overall.
Albania was a Communist country until 1992, and this kept it very isolated from the rest of the world. This is also one of the reasons that many people still don’t know much about Albania today. In 1997, the country had a civil war, but today it is a peaceful country that is rapidly developing.
Crime is relatively low, especially crime targeted at tourists. You have a much higher chance of being pickpocketed in a popular European city like Barcelona, Paris, or Rome than you do in Albania.
The Albanian people are also known for being very hospitable and friendly to foreigners. They will always go out of their way to help you. (Even when they don’t speak English, as I learned!)
Albania is technically a majority Muslim country, but you will see barely any sign of that. It’s a very secular country (since religion was actually banned under Communism for many years) and those who do practice Islam are very moderate. For example, I don’t think I saw a single Muslim woman wearing a head covering while in Albania. I also never heard a call to prayer like in other Muslim countries.
When it comes to natural disasters, Albania is in an earthquake zone, but it’s not something to be too concerned about as earthquakes are infrequent. So overall, very few safety concerns!
Solo Female Travel in Albania
Albania is a very safe country for solo female travelers.
However, many foreigners have a negative opinion of Albania. The movie Taken starring Liam Neeson didn’t help, featuring Albanian gangsters who kidnapped and trafficked American girls as the movie’s villains. In real life, that’s the last thing you have to worry about while traveling alone in Albania.
I did not feel unsafe at any point while I was traveling alone in Albania.
When I had been in Croatia for several weeks before coming to Albania, I actually had multiple Croatians warn me about Albania and say it was a dangerous place to visit. I’m glad that I took their warnings with a grain of salt because I did not experience any type of safety issues while I was in Albania.
I think this is also something of a regional stereotype among Balkan countries.
Challenges in Albania
That being said, Albania is more of a challenging destination and not one I would recommend for first-time solo travelers. Despite being in Europe, Albania felt way more “foreign” than other European destinations.
One challenge I had was the language barrier. English is not as widely spoken in Albania as it is in many other European destinations. While most young people speak great English, I found that many older people like taxi drivers and shopkeepers do not, which made communication a challenge.
Albania also does not have as much tourism infrastructure as some neighboring countries. It can be hard to get places via public transportation, which is why I actually ended up joining an organized day trip to visit the historic town of Berat from Tirana. It was too much of a hassle to do it on my own.
But if you have some experience traveling alone and don’t mind a few challenges here and there, Albania is an amazing and fascinating place to visit! Don’t let the challenges put you off.
Driving in Albania
One thing I would not recommend in Albania (as a solo female traveler or otherwise) is driving.
The roads in Albania, especially in rural areas, can be in poor condition. Drivers in Albania are also very aggressive, so only rent a car and drive yourself if you’re an extremely confident driver!
As one local tour guide joked, private cars were illegal in Communist Albania until the early nineties, so driving is something they are still getting used to. Funny, but also kind of true.
Personally, I was able to get around Albania via bus and organized tour.
Can You Drink the Tap Water in Albania?
One thing that surprised me about Albania was that you cannot drink the tap water.
Prior to visiting the country, I was not aware of this. Albania is the first country in Europe I have been to where it’s not recommended to drink the tap water. So I was pretty surprised to learn this!
I wasn’t sure how bad it could be. Surely in the capital city of Tirana, it would be okay to drink the tap water? But after double-checking with my local Airbnb host in Tirana, he confirmed that it is not recommended and that everyone drinks bottled water instead. So I decided not to risk it.
Since I did not have my LifeStraw water bottle that instantly filters water with me while traveling in Europe, I unfortunately had to stock up on bottled water for my time in Albania.
While locals do not drink the tap water in Albania, it’s perfectly fine to use it for showering, washing dishes, brushing your teeth, and so on. And I’d definitely recommend bringing a filtering water bottle!
How Is Food Safety in Albania?
I didn’t have any issues with the food in Albania, but I am a vegetarian. Allegedly Albania does not rank too highly for sanitary food preparation. You may want to exercise caution when it comes to eating meat.
Make sure that any meat you consume is properly cooked, and maybe choose a highly-rated restaurant instead of taking your chances at a random place on the street without knowing any reviews.
Other than that, there is not much to worry about when it comes to food in Albania.
Is Albania Safe for Solo Female Travelers?
Overall, Albania is very safe to visit, including for solo female travelers.
After traveling throughout several other Balkan countries like Croatia and Montenegro, I did find Albania to be the least developed and the most challenging to get around and communicate in.
But Albania is a wonderfully underrated destination, not to mention extremely budget-friendly! So don’t be afraid to embrace the adventure of traveling in Albania if you’re a solo female traveler.
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